Lekhwiya will be without suspended midfielder Mohamed Musa when they take on Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr in Group B of the 2016 AFC Champions League today in a game coach Djamal Belmadi says his side must win.
Musa picked up a second yellow card of the group stage in the previous meeting with the club from Riyadh meaning he must serve a one-match suspension as Belmadi sends out his team looking for their first win of the campaign.
Lekhwiya were pegged back to a 1-1 draw in the Matchday Three meeting between the teams which saw Ibrahim Ghaleb score a late penalty to cancel out Alain Dioko’s opener, leaving the Qataris on just two points from their opening three games.
“The match against Al Nassr will be very hard against a strong team,” said Belmadi, whose side lost their most recent Qatar Stars League meeting with Al Wakrah last Friday.
“We must win because we are playing at home in front of our fans and we badly need the three points.
“All the teams still have a chance and we must win tomorrow in order to strengthen our chances, although our task will not be easy. We were close to winning in the previous match but we didn’t take advantage of the chances that we had.
The draw between the teams at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh ensured Al Nassr held on to top spot in the group, level on five points with Iran’s Zobahan. But with only three points separating all four teams in the group, the battle for the two berths in the next phase remains wide open.
“Lekhwiya are one of the strongest teams in Qatar and we will be playing against one of the champions which means that the match will be very hard,” said Al Nassr coach Raul Caneda, who saw his team win 3-2 over Al Taawon in the Saudi league on Friday.
“I hope that the confidence of the players will motivate them to win the match. We know that Lekhwiya will be fighting for the win but that is not important for us because our main target is to win as well. Pressure is part of the game and hopefully we will not be affected by the fact we are playing the match in Doha and in front of Lekhwiya’s fans.”